With red text messages appearing on the Taiwan Social Distancing app showing that you have been in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case and with people you know posting on social media that they are infected, it is difficult to ignore that the virus is spreading fast in Taiwan.
The peak is expected in about a week to two weeks, and according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), the peak could continue for another two weeks after that.
Taiwan might not be able to get the pandemic under control, but that does not mean there is nothing people can do to keep their families safe. The key to reducing the risk is to make sure people are prepared as much as possible, both in terms of medical supplies and information.
First of all, ensure that you have the most up-to-date information about pandemic prevention. The latest information is announced in the daily CECC news conferences. These usually take about an hour, and if you do not have the time to spare, or you do not want to listen to the reporters’ follow-up questions, then you only need to watch it for 20 minutes, or half an hour at the most.
If you do not even have time for this, the center will post a visual summary of the information discussed on the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Facebook page or official Line account.
However, watching the CECC’s daily news conferences alone is not enough, because there might be differences between how individual local governments implement the measures announced by the center. It is therefore necessary to also pay attention to local governments’ news conferences, but if you want to save some time, as with the previous comments, you could always skip the reporters’ questions or go straight to local governments’ official social media accounts.
These are the most important channels for obtaining information about pandemic measures in a fast-moving situation: Second-hand sources might have been colored with an ideological agenda or a subjective interpretation that would be of little help in dealing with the pandemic.
First, the best way to protect members of your family is to make sure you have access to first-hand information.
Second, encourage your family members to get vaccinated, if they have not already done so. There are many opinions out there saying that the concerns over the vaccines outweigh the advantages, and there are also many conspiracy theories and false reports in circulation, but all you need to do is look at how many central and local government leaders around the world are encouraging their constituents to get vaccinated, and you can see that, irrespective of your political or ideological leanings, all sides of the political spectrum agree on the need to get vaccinated.
If you want to protect your family, disregard any information suggesting that you should avoid being vaccinated, and be on guard against fake news.
Third, try not to complain in front of your family members. There is much to be done to ensure your family is mentally prepared and has enough supplies, and people living under the same roof might have different ideological stances and beliefs, so it is important not to allow second-hand, inaccurate information cause unnecessary misunderstandings: Keep fake news at arm’s length.
Even if people are in general agreement, having everybody complaining about the central or local governments would not do any good. If you are asked to wear a mask, do so; if you are asked to get vaccinated, comply; if you are asked to maintain social distancing, do it. If the nation is going to get through this peak unscathed, the whole family needs to work together.
Chang Yueh-han is a professor at Shih Hsin University.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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